Jason_Burrell at fcircus.sat.tx.us (Jason Burrell) writes:
>In <9306290830.AA13323 at net.bio.net>, jordan at netcom.com (Jordan A. Bortz) writes:
>> Excuse me for being an ignoramus but:
Don't use that word! There's nothing wrong with asking questions!
>I have seen some protein sequences that people sent to the
>Blitz server. (I requested the help file hoping it would be intresting.
>It was :) Could someone quickly explain what the letters stand for? At
>first guess I thought amino acids but I'm 99.9% sure thats not what it
Yes, the letters stand for amino acids -- one letter per residue.
Alanine Cysteine D=aspartic acid E=glutamic acid
Glycine Histidine Isoleucine K=lysine
Leucine Methionine asparagiNe Proline
Q=glutamine aRginine Serine Threonine
Valine tYrosine
and, of course:
Fenylalanine tWptophan :-)
I strongly suggest you get a good biochemistry/molecular biology/genetics
textbook -- it is a very worthwhile investment. Try a college bookstore,
or there are several good ones available through Scientific American Books.
Keith Robison
Harvard University
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology
Department of Genetics / HHMI
robison at biosun.harvard.edu